Thanks to a selfless act of fellow GT4 racer Michael Blanchemain who protected the stricken Aston by parking his Audi in harm’s way from the oncoming traffic, Cabirou was able to free himself from his car and to a place of safety without further event, but their car was unracable from that point on.

Another great early display of consistency from the #72 GPA Racing crew of Kevin Jimenez and Florent Grizaud saw them claim another Am Class pole position for Saturdays race 1 which they duly converted to another podium with a P3 finish at the end.

The #13 Mirage Racing AMR of Valentin Hasse-Clot and Romano Ricci also fared well in race one starting from third in their Pro-Am Class to eventually finish second at the end.

The two new GPA Racing entries of #48 Didier Sirgue and Gilles Colombani and renumbered #8 David Pouget and Matthieu Casalonga each did well in their debut races together with the #48 Qualifying P12 in Am Class before finishing eighth in class whilst the #8 Am class car started from 17th in class to finish twelfth. They returned similar placements for Sundays race which equated to a great opening day for the extended GPA Racing team.

Sundays race was not quite as productive for the AMR runners as the #72 GPA crew proved that they were indeed human by failing to finish whilst the #161 AGS Events Am car of Didier Dumaine and Christophe Carriere returned to class winning ways with a P2 finish just ahead of their #79 AGS teammates Stephane Desbrosse and Lauris Nauroy in third.

The next round of the season takes the expected forty runners to Spa Francorchamps in Belgium for the start of the SRO’s annual Speed Week.

Photo credits – FFA GT4

 

 

 

 

Thankfully for all, the rain of Friday had passed the circuit by leaving two warm, dry days for each of the two – one-hour races.

Romain Leroux qualified his #007 AGS AMR GT4 that he shares with Valentin Hasse-Clot in P4 (P2 in their Silver Cup Class) for race 1 on Saturday and was nearly a full second faster than his #89 stable mate car of Nicolas Gomar who was back in P15 amongst the thirty-four car entry.

By the end of the race, the #007 crew had consolidated their position on track to finish P5 overall but importantly P2 in class. Their #161 Am Class stable mate crew of Didier Dumaine and Christophe Carriere secured another podium finish P22 overall and P3 in class to keep their title hopes on track.

For Race 2 on Sunday, it was this time #89 AGS car of Mike Parisy who headed the AMR bunch starting from P4 overall and in class with the #007 of Hasse-Clot about ¾ of second back in P16!!

A productive day for Gomar and Parisy saw them finish the race second overall and in class to bolster their championship standing after a disappointing round last time out at Magny-Cours whilst the #161 car again secured their second P3 class finish of the weekend.

The #8 JSB Competition car of Julien Briche and Jean-Laurent Navarro had a good, solid return to the series after electing to miss the two races at Magny-Cours on the basis of apparent lack of pace but their P13 and P12 finishes in Pro-Am this weekend would kind of suggest that they have the basis of good performances already beneath them?

The #007 crew also leave Albi with a six point championship lead in the Silver Cup despite missing out on a possible second podium after an earlier spin.

Next up for the Series is the SRO Speedweek from Spa Francorchamps at the end of July when all SRO sanctioned European GT series descend on the infamous Belgium circuit ahead of the Total 24Hours of Spa.

Photo credits – FFSA / Teams